Sunday, January 4, 2015

read: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (4 stars)

This was a very interesting read (for about the first 2/3 of its length). The author does a good job of explaining and making the reader think more deeply about how geography, environment, biology, sociology, politics and language all work together to influence technology and what most of us regard as progress. I gained new insights into the origins of farming, writing, disease and government and how and why they might have been unevenly distributed throughout the world.

I share the same concern as others that the writing does get a bit repetitive. This seems to be a common shortcoming of academics writing for a wider audience. They need to realize that their readers might not be researchers in their field, but we're still pretty smart and can pick up on themes and ideas without having them pounded into our skulls with a mallet.

Even so, I do recommend this book. Read the good parts. Skim the boring bits. Think about the complexity of the world.

The book does cover a lot of time and territory. All of it's interesting and should be read chronologically to understand. But it's very easy to skim when things start getting bogged down in too many details. I haven't yet viewed the PBS documentary. It could be a good way to get the gist in 2.5 hours.